Protect yourself when using PayPal

Since PayPal is the preferred method of payment for all ebay sellers, more people are using it than ever. For those ebay sellers accepting PayPal payments, they often have them linked to personal checking or savings accounts at their bank. How can they protect the other funds in their personal accounts from possible loss in the event PayPal has a breach of security?

The simplest way to help keep your other funds safe from an event like this is to setup a savings account at your bank to use exclusively for your PayPal connection.

Say you currently have a personal checking and savings account at your bank, you would not want to link one of these directly to PayPal, especially if you keep any type of balance in these accounts. You should open a new savings account. This new account would be linked to your PayPal account and you would carry the minimum balance required to avoid any fees at your bank.

This new account serves as a buffer between your savings and your PayPal transactions.

Once you accumulate funds in your PayPal account, you can use the free service to transfer your funds from your PayPal balance to your new savings account. Once this is complete (usually three business days), you can login to your bank account and transfer those funds to your personal checking or savings account.

What’s in a listing description?

Two of the most important areas of your ebay listing are the title and the description.

When a shopper starts at the ebay homepage and enters their search criteria in the bar near the top of the page, that search will look at the titles of all auctions in ebay and display the results on the following page.

If a shopper is in a specific category, area or on a page displaying previously search results, there will be a check box under the search box titles ‘Include title and description’. This search will display relevant matches in both the title and description of all ebay listings meeting any other criteria specified by the shopper.

Your title should contain as many important key words as possible. These include brand names, model numbers, condition, or any other descriptive words that you feel are important to bring attention to your listing. It is not necessary for the title to follow proper grammar or sentence structure, only to help buyers find your particular item and improve where it falls on the subsequent search page. You are allowed 55 characters in the title field, it is recommended to use every one to your advantage.

The item description is where you have almost free reign in describing your item to the best of your ability. This area needs to be as factual and relevant as possible, ebay has strict guidelines against false representation or keyword spamming (using terms or words such as brand names other than the item(s) you have listed for the sole purpose of showing up in other search criteria).
Your description must contain the basics like what exactly you have available, the brand, size, style, model, quantity. Other key items are size, location, condition (if damaged in any way, be as clear as you can as well as include good pictures so they buyer knows what they are bidding on). Is there an interesting story behind the item or the reason you are selling it? Include that. Nothing like having an interesting story and an ebayer forwards a link to the listing to their friends and so on.

Don’t forget to list any shipping options and selling conditions (as is, return policy, etc).

Doing this serves two purposes, it improves the chances that in interested buyer will find your listing as well as answers as many questions as possible so you receive fewer email questions to reply to.

Ebay listing upgrades: What should you use?

When creating your ebay listing, there are many listing upgrades to choose from, some are free and some have fees associated. How do you know what you should use and what you should save your money on?
There are a few items that should be included with every item you list on ebay:

• A well written title - Remember the title does not need to be a complete sentence. This is for keywords that people searching are likely to use when looking for YOUR item. Be sure to include brand names, specific item or model numbers and sizes when ever applicable.
• Pictures (no charge for the first image) - No ebay listing should be without images. Good, accurate images that reflect the exact condition of the item being sold. Remember the first image you upload is free, that is the image that will be used next to the item in the search results. You should upload any other images you have using a free hosting service like photobucket.com or your own web server if you have that option available to you.
• International Shipping - If at all possible, do not limit yourself to shipping to buyers in the USA. You would be surprised how many international buyers will pay more for items because they are not available everywhere. Be sure to estimate the cost to ship your item to other countries properly to you are able to list proper shipping charges in your listing.
• Return policy - You should consider offering a return policy for any items you sell. People may be more apt to bid on your item if they know they are not going to be stuck with something that may have been misrepresented.

The following are items we do not recommend using in your listing:

• Subtitle ($.50) - This area is only read when users search by title AND description.
• Sub category - Listing in two categories doubles the Insertion Fee as well as the fees for most listing upgrades (Bold, Gallery, etc.).
• Listing designer ($.10) – This is a custom template that will give your listing a more professional look. For most items this is not a requirement but should be considered for some listings that you feel are worthy. Examples might be highly sought after items or collectibles or if you are selling items on ebay as a business or some other professional service.
• Each additional picture ($.15 each picture) – As stated above, you can use any of the free picture hosting services out there or upload them to your own web server. This allows you to link to the images directly in your description using basic html code. Ex: < src="http://yourserver.com/images/teddybear1.jpg">
  
• Gift Icon ($.25) – One of those features that may make your item stand out of you are only one of many sellers with the very same item on ebay. Not usually required or effective in our experience.
• The following items are not recommended unless you are selling a high dollar item and expect bidding to reach into the thousands of dollars. Examples would be expensive vehicles, buildings, homes, land etc.

Border ($2.00)
Highlight ($5.00)
Featured Plus! ($14.95)
Featured First ($24.95)
Home Page Featured ($59.95)

Saving money on your shipping supplies

So you have gone through a few closets, cleaned out the attic or garage and have a pile of items to list on ebay. The next step is to be sure you have boxes or other packaging supplies to get them ready for shipping. Unless you already operate a brick and mortar store and already provide mail order services, chances are you will need to find some empty boxes, packaging tape, address labels and other materials. These can be expensive, but what if you can have items like these delivered to your door at no cost to you?

The US Post Office makes this easy, if you plan to ship your items via USPS Priority Mail or Express mail, almost everything you need is available from them for FREE. Boxes, packaging tape, address labels, envelopes of all sizes, all delivered to you within a few days.

Visit shop.usps.com and click the Priority Mail image. You will need to register (this is also free), browse the online store and order the items you are looking for. Enter your address and they should arrive within a few days at no cost to you.

Other ideas for package protection are white tissue paper from your local card shop or the dollar store. Use this white oversized tissue paper to wrap items or fill empty space in the box to further protect items during shipping.

You can also save the Styrofoam packaging peanut material from items you buy through the mail, store them in a garbage bag until you need them to pack items you have sold.

Why you should use Paypal if you sell on ebay

PayPal is a Web-based application for the secure transfer of funds between member accounts. It doesn't cost the user anything to join PayPal or to send money through the service, but there is a minimal fee structure in place for those members who wish to receive money.

As of late 2008, electronic payments are the only recommended method of payment for goods sold using ebay. This includes accepting credit cards using a bank merchant account, ProPay or Paypal. While ebay believes this will greatly reduce the number of items not received by buyers and reduce the amount of negative feedback left by buyers.

Accepting Paypal payments often increases the amount of bids your item received resulting in increased revenue for you as a seller. It also means quicker payments, usually the same day or within a few days of the auction ending on ebay.

While some say Paypal fees are high, once you take a look at other packages available to sellers who wish to receive credit card payments, you will see the overall cost of setup and transactions are lower than any other option available. Considering that and the integration with your ebay listings and you see it is the best choice available hands down.

So you don’t think you have anything to sell on ebay?

I am surprised how many people I talk to about ebay tell me they don’t have anything to sell there. There is little doubt most of not all of them have a room, closet, basement or garage to clean out.

I began selling new car brochures I collected for years when I was younger. I had them in boxes in the closet until a co-worker told me about ebay in 1999. Over the next year or so, I sold the entire lot of them to people all over the world, prices ranged from $5.00 to over $50.00 each. These were items I had considered throwing away.

Just a few things to look for in your homes;

• Collectible figurines by Hummel, Disney, Wee Forest Folk, etc.
• Name brand children’s and teen clothing by Nike, Holister Co. & Aeropostle
• Gently used children’s sporting equipment
• Name brand and designer clothing for adults like Levis, Kenneth Cole & Ed Hardy

The list is endless. Next time you are cleaning your that closet or basement, take a close look at what you would considering throwing away or donating and post it on ebay, you may be surprised at what others are willing to pay for your items.

Google Store?

Google has been looking for something to give its online payment system, Google Checkout, some legs, and this could definitely do it.

The Google Gadget is a very simple piece of code that allows you to put a basic store description just about anywhere.

The placing of the Gadget on your site works as a 3 step process.

It works in conjunction with Google Docs to create a spreadsheet to which you can add everything you need to sell your item, including pictures.

Many sellers' patience is wearing thin with the bombardment of new selling platforms and their never-ending changes, so I think they'll love the fact that the Gadget is ready to use right out of the box.

When you add to this the power of Google Base, the tool that sends store listings to the Google search, the possibilities are explosive, and you gotta love the fact that there are no listing, or final value fees.

The gadget is in Google "Labs" right now, so this means that there is no support for it. But stay tuned, I have a hunch this one is going to be a popular product and I can see Google developing it further.

If it does take off, it could be a twofer for Google by way of competition for PayPal and an alternative to eBay's fixed price format.

Source: examiner.com